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This Week in History: Week 31 (30 July 1930)

First FIFA World Cup Is Held In Uruguay

The final match of the first FIFA World Cup Football Championship is held in Montevideo, Uruguay

In 1930, the first FIFA World Cup Football (soccer) Championship was held in Uruguay, with the final match being played in the country's capital, Montevideo, between the host nation Uruguay and their South American neighbours Argentina. Uruguay trailed 2-1 at half-time, but scored 3 goals in the second half to win 4-2 and become the first World Champions. The FIFA World Cup is now held every 4 years and is one of the world's most popular sporting events, with the final match regularly watched by over 2 billion television viewers.

World Cup (noun): an international football (soccer) competition held every four years
match (noun): a contest in which teams compete with each other
host nation (noun): the country where an event is held
neighbour (British English spelling)/neighbor (American English spelling)
trail (verb): be behind in points
half-time (noun): the interval between two halves of a match

Transcript: The first ever FIFA World Cup took place in July of 1930 in Uruguay. This was the only World Cup without a qualification, and every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to come play. Uruguay not only hosted the first FIFA World Cup, but it also won the first one, beating Argentina 4 to 2 in the final.

Mini Quiz

1. All the matches in the first FIFA World Cup Football Championship were played in
a) Montevideo
b) Argentina
c) Uruguay

Show answer

c

2. Which team was winning just before the second half of the first FIFA World Cup Championship final began?
a) Uruguay
b) Argentina
c) Montevideo

Show answer

b

3. The country in which an international sporting event is being held is called
a) the championship nation
b) the holding nation
c) the host nation

Show answer

c

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Contributor: Matt Errey. Matt is the author of several books including 1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context and Common English Idioms for learners, and Matt's ESL Games and Quizzes for teachers.